Fiber cutter for suction cleaners



Jan. 19, 195.4 F, s, HOWARD 2,666,570

FIBER CUTTER'FOR SUCTION CLEANERS Filed June 6, 1949 I 2 Sheets-Sheet lJan. 19, 1954 F. s. HOWARD FIBER CUTTER FOR SUCTION CLEANERS 2Shets-Shee; 2

Filed June 6, 1949 Patented Jan. 19, 1954 FIBER CUTTER FOR SUCTIONCLEANERS Frank S. Howard, Chicago, Ill., assignor to B rtman ElectricCompany, a corporation of Illinois Application June 6, 1949, Serial No.97,439

- 1 This invention relates to a suction cleaner having a rotatablesuction fan, and relates particularly to a fiber cutter for such acleaner for cutting long fibers such as threads, hairs and the like thatbecome deposited in regions adjacent the fan.

In suction cleaners employing a rotatable suction fan for drawing adirt-laden air stream from the surface being cleaned and ejecting itinto a bag or other dust trap, difficulties are frequently encounteredwhen relatively long fibers such as hair, thread and the like, are drawninto the cleaner by the air stream. These relatively long fibers oftenbecome wound around the fan shaft or other portions of the cleaneradjacent the fan. The rotation of the fan and the air flow cooperate tocause this winding as the firstturn of the fiber holds it in place,while thefan and air flow complete the winding. An accumulation offibers is soon built up and interferes with theair flow. In thosecleaners where a belt is provided for driving a rotatable brush, thefibers sometimes get between the belt and the driving spindle wheretheyrapidly damage the belt and cause it to break.

I have invented a fiber cutter which operates to cut the fibers intosmall pieces so that the air stream can pick up these pieces and blowthem into the dust collecting bag. Thus an accumulation of the fibers onthe operating parts of the cleaner is avoided. I r

This fiber cutter is particularly applicable to a suction cleaner whichincludes a rotatable member such as a fan or fan shaft and anon-rotatable member such as protective collar or guard adjacent therotatable member. The fiber cutter is provided with at least one cutterblade and is'mounted on one of the non-rotatableor rotatable members andadjacent the other member to out fibers deposited from the fiber-ladenair stream on this other member. As the fiber cutter operatescontinuously, the fibers are cut into small pieces before anaccumulation has built up within the cleaner. r

The'invention will be described as related to the embodiment shown inthe accompanying drawings: Of the drawings: Fig. l is a side elevationpartially broken away and partially in section of a suctioncleanerprovided with a fiber cutter of this invention; Fig. 2 is anenlarged partial vertical section through the suction fan, fiber cutterand adjacent parts of the cleaner; Fig. 3 is a horizontal section takensubstantially along line 3+3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a bottom elevation ofthe fiber cutter itself; and Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the fibercutter of Fig. 4. I

In the" embodiment shown in the drawings, the

' suction cleaner includes a housing ID, a nozzle 5 Claims. (Cl..230132) is provided a rotatably mounted brush having bristles l'lthereon. This brush is driven by a belt I 8 of rubber or the likeextending rearwardly to a spindle [9. This spindle is preferably formedas the lower end of the vertically arranged motor shaft 2!] driven by amotor 2!. Mounted on the motor shaft 29 is a suction fan 22 arranged todraw a fiber and dust laden air stream from the nozzle i l and eject itinto the dust collecting bag [3L There is provided a fan housing 23around the fan 22 with this housing having an inlet eye 23a preferablyopening downwardly as shown in Fig. 1. In order to protect the belt l8from damage by dust and other particles in the air stream, there ispreferably provided a belt guard housing 24 surrounding the belt and thespindle IS. The portion of the housing 24 adjacent the spindle 9 isprovided with an annular upwardly extending portion 24a that issubstantially concentric with the axis of rotation of the spindle l9 andthe motor shaft 29.

When the suction cleaner is in operation it often picks up long threads,hairs and other fibers and these are drawn by the air stream through thefan housing inlet eye 2311 into the housing. The force of the air streamand the rotation of the fan 22 frequently causes these fibers to bewound around the shaft or adjacent portion of the belt guard housing 24.In a relatively short time these fibers can accumulate to such a massthat the inlet eye 23a will became at least partially obstructed. Inthose cleaners which do not employ a belt guard housing or a shaftguard, the fibers become wound around the fan shaft and gradually workdownwardly on the spindle l9 until they get between the spindle l9 andthe belt so that the belt rapidly becomes damaged and frequently breaks.In any type cleaner employing a rotatable fan, the accumulated woundfibers soon become objectionable and decrease the chi- .ciency of thecleaner.

In order to'prevent these relatively long fibers from causing damage tothe cleaner and reducing its efficiency, I have invented a fiber cutterwhich cuts the fiber into small pieces so thatthe air stream drawn bythe fan can eject the pieces in- .to the dust bag l3. In the embodimentshown in the drawings the fiber cutter 25 comprise an annular planarbody portion 2511 provided with a rim portion 25b provided with spacedcutter blades 25c thereon. As shown in Figs. 2 to 5, inclusive, eachcutter blade 250 is of substantially triangular shape and is curvedinwardly toward the center of the cutter 25. As shown in Fig. 2,

the fiber cutter 25 is held inposition in a recess 22a on the bottom ofthe fan 22so that the cutter blades 25c extend downwardly and inwardly.The

central axes of the recess 22a and the fiber cutter 25 substantiallycoincide with'theaxis of rotation 3 of the motor shaft 20 on which thefan 22 is mounted.

Immediately beneath the fiber cutter 25 there is provided an annularguard member 26. This guard member has a portion 26d closely embracingand fixedly mounted on the top of the belt guard housing portion 24a.The outer surface of the guard member 26 adj'acent'the embracing portion26a thereof is provided a portion 26b sloping inwardly toward thefanr22and in the direction of fiow of the air stream. This portion 26b has theshape of ,a ,frustum. of, a cone. Immediately adjacent the inner end ofthe sloped portion 2611 there is provided .an annular groove 260 on theguard member 26 and into which the ends of the cutter blades 25c extend. This groove 260 has its top surface bounded by an outwardlyprojecting shoulder 26d which is located betwen the innermost ends ofthe cutter blades 25c and the body portion 25a of the fiber cutter. Inorder to seal the area between the shoulder 26d .and the body portion25a there is provided an annular washer 2! .of felt .or-othercompressible material.

In the structure described above, the guard member 2G is fixed to theportion 24d of the belt guard housing and thus is non-rotatable. The fan22 is rotated by the motor 2| and the fiber cutter 25 is locked to thefan .so that the fiber cutter rotates therewith. .Any structure desiredmay be employed for causing this locking and in the embodiment shown theflocking arrangement is provided by having a pair of. cut-out sections25d provided on the inner surface of the fiber cutter 25 to engagesimilarly shaped sections on the fan 22.

When the suctioncleaner is in operation, the dust and fiber laden airstream is drawn by the fan from the nozzle H through the fan housinginlet eye 23d and forced into the dust bag '13 where the dust andrelatively short fibers are separated from the air stream. Whenrelatively long fibers of hair, thread and the like are in the airstream these will often become wound around the guard member '26. Theforce of the air stream and the rotation of the fan causes these fibersto be drawn upwardly along the outer surface of the guard member. vDueto the sloped portion 26b of the guard member, these wound fibers willbe gradually drawn into the As the groove is relatively annular groove26c. narrow, the fibers soon build up to the point where they can beengaged by the blades 250 of the rotating fiber cutter 25. These bladescut the fibers within the groove into short pieces which are easilydrawn by the air stream and ejected into the bag 13 with the dust andsmall fibers. As will be noted in the drawings, there is an appreciabledistance between the innermost edges of the blades 25c and the bottom ofthe groove 260. The reason for this space is that manufacturingtolerances do not warrant having the cutter blades extend the full depthof the groove. Even with this construction there will never the a largeaccumulation of fibers within the groove for as soon as they come incontact with the cutter blades they are immediately cut into small piec85,

could be provided wherein the fiber cutter is mounted on a non-rotatablemember and operatin in c njunction with a rotatable member.

As will be noted, the bottom of the guard member 26 extends to a pointwithin the fan housing inlet eye 23a. This is provided so thatpractically all the ,fibers that are deposited on the large diameter ofthe portion 26a will be easily drawn over this portion and inwardly.ralohg theqsloned portion 26b into the groove 260 where they are inposition to be cut by the ro-- .t ing fiber cutter 25.

Having described my invention as related to thecembodiment shown in theaccompanying drawings, it is my intention that the invention be notlimited by any of the details of description but rather be construedbroadly within its spirit and scope .as set out in the accompanyingclaims. i

I claim-z 1. In a suction cleaner including a rotatable fan shaft,.a fanchamber having an opening through which said shaft extends and a fanwithin said chamber mounted on said shaft for drawing a fiber-laden airstream through said op ning, a non-rotatable guard member surroundingsaid shaft adjacent said fan and said opening, and .a fibercuttermounted. for rotation with said fan shaftandhavingat least.onecutter blade adiacent said guard member to cut fibersdepositedthereon.

.2. The suction cleaner of claim 1 wherein said guard member is providedwith an annular groove substantiallyconcentric with the axis of rotationof said cutter .and into which said cutter blade extends.

3,. The suction cleaner of claim 1 wherein said guard member is providedwith a portion sloping inwardly in the direction of flow of said airstream from an area spaced from said cutter to anarea adjacentsaidcutter blade.

4. The suction cleaner of claim 1 wherein said fiber cutter is providedwith a plurality of spaced cutter blades.

5. In a suction cleaner including a rotatable fan shaft, a fan chamberhaving an opening through which said shaft extends and a fan within saidchamber mounted on said shaft for drawing a fiber-laden air streamthrough said opening, a non-rotatable guard member surrounding saidshaft adjacent said fan and said opening, said guard member beingprovided with an annular groove substantially concentric with the axisofyrotaltion or said fan shaft and being provided with a sloped portionon its outer surface sloping inwardly in the direction of flow of saidair stream from an area spaced from said groove to said groove, and afiber cutter mounted for rotation with said fan shaft and having alieved obvious that an alternate c nst uction plurality of spaced cutterblades extending into said groove to cut fibers deposited therein.

- 'S. HOWARD.

*References Bi-ted in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Numr ,Name Date 31513550 I-|,a'sl a July 7 .1931 ;.2,1 9.;2 ,':l.62 'Vincze2, Mar. 5, .940 2,20 2 3 Riebel et a1. "a", June 11.3, 1940 2,224,205Whitaker gar-rm"... Dec. .10, 1940

